Gifts to Physicians From Industry

To the Editor: Many university faculty members and prominent practicing physicians serve as paid consultants to major pharmaceutical houses and travel around the country giving seminars and educational conferences that are frequently, although not always, thinly veiled promotions for particular products.

Abstract

To the Editor. —Controversy surrounds the relationship between the pharmaceutical industry and physicians.1-3Congressional hearings have focused on the extravagant gifts that some physicians have received from pharmaceutical companies, implying that many physicians routinely accept these gifts (Am Med News. December 28, 1990). Recently, the American Medical Association (AMA) published guidelines stating that gifts to physicians are acceptable if they entail a benefit to patients and are of no substantial value.4Gifts of minimal value are also acceptable if they are related to the physician's work.4Despite these reports, there are few data in the medical literature examining to what extent current pharmaceutical gift-giving behaviors may comply with recent guidelines. Exhibit hall gift promotions are a common part of major medical meetings. While attending a recent national meeting of a major medical specialty, I studied a selection of pharmaceutical exhibits to determine the types and proportions of